Clamor for Sara Duterte’s run for Senate kicks off

Supporters of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio officially launched yesterday a movement encouraging the presidential daughter to run for a Senate seat in 2019.

Cebu City Councilor Erik Espina, who initiated the "Inday Sara Duterte for Senator Movement," spearheaded the launching in his office at the Cebu City Hall.

The movement, the councilor said, aims to gather at least one million signatures from all over the country to convince Sara to run for senator.

He said the movement is being supported by various organizations, and the academe, among others.

"It is our greatest interest and conviction to initiate and spearhead a massive signature campaign here in the Visayas, which will be replicated nationwide to gather at least one million signatures for "Inday Sara" to convince her to seriously reconsider inhibiting herself from an election which would require her contribution in the elevated august Chamber," Espina said.

Inday is the nickname of Sara.

At a press conference, Espina said he came up with this initiative after realizing that Filipinos need a politician who has a Cebuano heart.

"We happily note this early, the great contribution of Inday Sara in the national stage for the ongoing peace process. She has been advocating for peace talks to be localized. And today, this has been adopted by the national government as the modality for continuing the peace process," Espina said.

He said the movement is open to anyone interested joining the campaign, regardless of his or her political affiliation.

Also, Espina said he will ask the help of Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, founder and leader of Kingdom of Jesus Christ, to gather more signatures.

Aside from the signature campaign, the group is also planning to create a Facebook page to reach more supporters here and abroad.

Espina dismissed insinuations that someone from the national government influenced him to initiate the movement for Sara.

"I don't know her personally, she doesn't know me personally which makes this effort a better approach because I don't want this to be tainted as if there is some political connections to this. These are all volunteers, we are all volunteers. We want her to run for senate. She does not know this effort, she does not know about this," he said.

Espina was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte last month. Espina replaced dismissed City Councilor James Anthony Cuenco, who was found guilty of serious dishonesty and grave misconduct over his involvement in the misuse of the P3.3million Priority Development Assistance Fund allocation of his father, former Cebu City south district congressman Antonio Cuenco.

In a separate interview, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, the founder of the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan, expressed his support for Sara.

"Why not? She's (Sara) from the local government. That's a big plus and she's Bisaya, okay rana para kanako. Anyway, daghan man kaayong blanko sa balota," he said.

Osmeña, however, said he will still have to consult with other BOPK members on this.

"I have to discuss that with the group also. I cannot dictate the group, but I can influence the group. We'll just see if anyone has objections, I don't think so. But, it's not automatic," the mayor said.

Despite her strong survey numbers, the president said Sara is not running for a national post.

It was reminiscent of President Duterte's bid for the presidency in 2016, in which he had repeatedly said that he would not run for office despite a public campaign called "Duterte for President Movement" urging him to run.

Sara was in the winning circle in the latest Pulse Asia survey on the 2019 senatorial elections, according to a Philstar.com report.

The nationwide survey, which was conducted from June 15 to 21, found 46.2 percent of respondents saying they would support the mayor, giving her a statistical ranking of 3rd to 5th. The mayor was behind Sen. Grace Poe, Taguig City Rep. Pia Cayetano and Sen. Cynthia Villar.